Monday, January 31, 2011

Autism facts and statistics

Autism affects 1 person in every 100. That’s over half a million people in the UK, and two million people if you include their families.

In the average local authority area there are likely to be 2,500 people with autism.

In the average Member of Parliaments’s constituency there are likely to be 3,000 people affected by autism (people with the condition and their family members).

Education:

Over 50% of children with autism are not in the kind of school their parents believe would best support them

There are more appeals to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal about schooling for children with autism than for children with any other type of special education need. 79% of parents who have appealed to the Tribunal won their case.

Over 70% of schools are dissatisfied with their teachers’ training in autism and 44% of teachers report they do not feel confident teaching children with autism.

27% of children with autism are excluded from school at least once, compared with 4% of other children.

34% of parents say that a delay in accessing the right support at school had a negative impact on their child’s mental health.

42% of children with autism have no friends (compared to 1% of other children).

Adult services:

Two thirds of adults with autism do not have enough support to meet their needs.

A third of adults with autism have experienced severe mental health problems because of a lack of support.

60% of parents say that a lack of timely support has resulted in their son or daughter having higher support needs in the long term.

If local services identified and supported just 4% of adults with high functioning autism and Asperger syndrome the outlay would become cost neutral over time.

If they did the same for just 8% it could save the Government £67 million per year.

Employment:

Adults with autism say that finding a suitable job would improve their lives more than anything else, yet only 15% are in paid employment.

79% of adults with autism who are currently on Incapacity Benefit want to work.

One third of adults with autism, over 100,000 people, are currently without a job or benefits.

Over half have spent some time without either work of benefits, some for more than ten years.

Carers:

In a 2009 survey, 68% of carers said they were caring for over 71 hours a week.

69% of respondents of those carers who were not working had had to give up work because of their caring responsibilities.

76% of parents and carers of adults with autism are not currently receiving any support from their local authority.

Health (including mental health):

71% of children with autism have at least one mental health problem, such as anxiety disorders, depression, and obsessive compulsive disorder, and 40% have two or more.

1 in every 10 children who use child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) has autism, that’s over 10,000 children every year.

In a survey of parents whose children had accessed CAMHS, two thirds said that CAMHS had failed to improve their child’s mental health.

Parents are twice as likely to say that CAMHS has improved their child’s mental health where they have had support from a professional who specialises in autism.

80% of GPs feel they need additional guidance and training to manage patients with autism more effectively.